Crime & Safety
Barge Worker Who Fell Into Des Plaines Was 65: Coroner
On Monday, the 65-year-old man from Arkansas fell off the barge south of Joliet along the Des Plaines River. His body was found Tuesday.
CHANNAHON, IL —The Will County Coroner's Office of Laurie Summers announced on Wednesday night that the barge worker who apparently fell into the Des Plaines River on Monday and drowned was a senior citizen from Arkansas.
The man who died was Artie Odom, a 65-year-old resident of Hughes, Arkansas.
The coroner said Odom was pronounced dead at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, in the 24000 block of West Front Street in the Des Plaines River, in Channahon Township.
Find out what's happening in Channahon-Minookafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Odom was reported missing shortly before 7 p.m. on Monday by the tugboat captain. At the time of the emergency call, the tugboat captain was not sure where Odom went missing, he just came to the realization that Odom was no longer on the barge as it passed between Morris and Joliet.
According to Wednesday's autopsy, Odom's preliminary cause of death is drowning. The incident is being investigated by the United States Coast Guard's marine safety unit, Summers noted.
Find out what's happening in Channahon-Minookafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Tuesday, the Channahon Police Department, along with help from Channahon's Fire Protection District, Minooka Fire and the U.S. Coast Guard, used Big Basin Marina near the Interstate 55 bridge as their staging area to coordinate the recovery efforts to locate Odom's body.
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